Review by brynalexa - The Covenant of Water

brynalexa 's review for:

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

2.25

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It might not seem like it due to my books so far in 2025 but I rarely read books written by men…

Each time I eye rolled about a section that was clearly written by a man (derogatory) I took .25⭐️ off. Here are some examples but I know I missed some:

-.25 (page 87) heels do not turn women into objects (“erotic pillars” 🤮)

-.25 talking about shoshanna like all she’s worth is sex… could have just been that’s man’s POV but the author doesn’t describe her at all except for that it’s her fortune that brings her husband to parambil.

-.25 “young miss” is clearly smart and funny but Phillipose just cares about her body (train section)

-1 … he rapes his wife and it’s supposed to be a good thing?

-.25 considerable bosom? While hugging a child… why??

-.5 Digby constantly reminding himself that the years between him and Elsie disappeared somehow to relieve himself of his own creepiness.

One thing I did like was the ending- wrapping up Digby’s entire arc.

But…men write men and they are all trash.

Most of the writing was great. Almost every word had a purpose. Many of which were woven through the entire book.

I don’t think it had to be that long. Overall I would not recommend.

Content Warnings